March 17, 2013

THE ALBUM OF THE DAY
BUDDY HOLLY...Buddy Holly  (1958)
Buddy Holly was released 55 years ago in 1958 and it reached number 3 on the U.S. Billboard album charts.  Buddy Holly is known as a rock 'n roll giant.  This album shows how Buddy had a knack for strong melodies and country flavored tunes.  When Buddy tries to really rock, such as in "Ready Teddy," you can hear that the fast heavy rockers should be left up to Elvis and Little Richard.  Other than that this is a wonderful record, which contains the ultimate classics "Peggy Sue" and "Everyday."  The best track on here, by far, is "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues," I like how Buddy does the "hiccup" vocals on it. "Words Of Love" is another great track which would receive a great cover from the Beatles 7 years later.  Highly recommended with a 3 1/2 stars out of 5
(CD, vinyl, Allmusic review)

ROCK BIRTHDAYS FOR MARCH 17

Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane is 72; Fran Byrne of Ace is 65; Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Supertramp is 62; Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins is 46; Van Conner from Screaming Trees is 46; Melissa Auf der Maur, formerly with Smashing Pumpkins, is 41;

ON THIS DATE
1966 Keith Moon of the Who marries Kim Kerrigan
1967 Grateful Dead by the Grateful Dead is released
1990 Ric Grech of Traffic and Blind Faith dies of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 43
1998 Van Halen 3 by Van Halen is released
2003 Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits breaks a collarbone and 6 ribs in a motorcycle accident in London
2007 At a comic book convention in Los Angeles Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from Kiss participate in a panel discussion
2008 Paul McCartney's divorce from Heather Mills was settled for $48.6 million